According to a new European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report, outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) virus continue to spread in the EU and beyond. There have been some outbreaks in farms, and the spread is causing high mortality in wild birds and spillover to wild and domestic mammals, the scientific report flags.

Assessment is also carried out by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which monitors risk factors for a potential influenza pandemic and related mitigation measures.

Experts mention how they believe mink and foxes, which are highly susceptible to influenza viruses, to be possible drivers for the spread.

“Although mammal-to-mammal transmission has not yet been /confirm/ied, wild mammals could act as bridge hosts between wild birds, domestic animals and humans. Companion animals, such as cats, living in households and with access to the outdoors can also be a potential vehicle for transmission,” reads a statement.

“Farming in areas rich in waterfowl with outdoor production and/or poor biosecurity can facilitate the introduction of the virus to farms and its further spread. Extreme weather events and climate change play an additional role in the evolution of the situation because they can affect the ecology and demography of wild birds and thus influence the way the disease develops over time.”

Mitigating the risk
Avian flu has been challenging farmers and the poultry sector for several years now, following outbreaks in many parts of the world.

The latest EFSA avian influenza overview (December 2023–March 2024) says that between December 2, 2023 and March 15, 2024, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5) outbreaks were reported in domestic (227) and wild (414) birds across 26 countries in Europe.

However, this is lower than in previous years, with the overall number of HPAI virus detections in birds being significantly lower, although it is still considered to be widespread.

EFSA and ECDC expect to publish a scientific opinion assessing how a potential influenza pandemic might unfold with guidance to risk managers to reduce human health risks by the end of 2024.

In the meantime, the authorities highlight how farms should boost biosecurity to prevent animals from coming into contact with the infection.

Experts also advise enhancements to animal and human surveillance together with genomic analysis and sharing of sequence data.

In an assessment of the global poultry market, Rabobank cited avian flu as an ongoing concern earlier this week. Rabobank expects the risks will shift in the coming months to the Southern Hemisphere, wher more countries are turning to vaccines to protect the industry.

In October 2023, UK scientists targeted avian flu by using gene-editing techniques that recognize and modify parts of chicken DNA to limit the spread of the potentially deadly virus in chickens. They discovered how to restrict, but not completely block, the virus from infecting the birds.